Backlash starts against 'sexy' databases

Backlash starts against 'sexy' databases

Wow, actually a good summary of this new "anti-database" movement. Of course, the whole controversy all comes back to one guy: Michael Stonebraker. He started the storm in a few different places (and seems totally misguided).

But they, it's big enough that it reached the high scalability site. Link has lots of useful information and one great quote:

SimpleDB shifts work out of the database and onto programmers which is why the SimpleDB programming model sucks: it requires a lot more programming to do simple things...Programmers like problems they can solve with more programming.

I think that last line needs to be modified: Inefficient programmer like problems they can solve with more programming. I don't like making a bunch of problems for myself, especially when it comes to useless optimization. The goal here is to program solutions that require less programming in the future. You build tools that extend your thoughts and write more code for you.

That's what an RDMS does, it's just a collection of code that manages data so that you don't have to. Seems kind of foolish to pretend that we can do better at this than the pros.

What That Car Really Costs to Own

Wow, MSN Money actually has a decent piece about Money... Oh look, it's sponsored by Consumer Reports.org. That helps with the explanation:
What That Car Really Costs to Own - MSN Autos

I can't really argue with many of their points. Consumer Reports seems to know what they're doing. I am annoyed with one thing, though it's purely philosophical. It's the concept of factoring in the resale value of the car.

Yes we have historical data, but who wants to be the one trying to sell a Honda on the year they start making lemons? Plus the resale value is only good if you plan on selling the car. Otherwise, you just drive all cars until they're worth some irrelevant amount of money and you call it a day. At that point you want the car that cost you th least to get to the end of the line. Of course, the cars that require the least repair also tend to be the cars the highest resale value.

So you're kind of "double-dinging" certain cars. Especially when they all become basically worthless after a certain time.

The problem with tech recruiters

This quote was pulled from a post on the Joel on Software forum. The post is about providing a salary history to a recruiting firm. Partway down, a recruiter (likely with an axe to grind), makes a couple of serious posts. Most of the points are easily refuted or quite weak and somebody on the forums does a good job of picking these out.

But the recruiter also makes a good point:

Why don't we know the difference between a 60K and a 100K programmer? Because only a programmer could tell the difference and if the person was all hat, no cattle or the real deal. Most programmers would prefer to, say, program, than wade through 20 resumes and phone screens just to get to talk to two people who might be a good fit for whatever reason.

Of course she's perfectly right. And this is the fundamental problem with technical recruiters: They're completely unqualified to do the job.

It's not their "fault" per se, it's just endemic to the field. Being a good tech recruiter requires a ton of technical background, plus some business savvy, some sales skills, some research skills, networking skills and a ton of patience. Of course, if you already have all of these skills, then you have a job that pays way more than being a recruiter!

Personally, I would rather just avoid the recruiters all together and seek out the job I'm looking for rather than the other way around. Of course, YMMV.

Academia is doomed in the wired world

OK, so we start with the mandatory link;

Student faces Facebook consequences

Basic premise is simple. The University wants to ban the student for managing a Facebook user group where students helped out on Chemistry homework assignments. The interesting thing about these assignments, is that they actually weren't even given the same questions!

So here's a kid facing suspension for making a virtual study group where people can't even really share answers b/c they have different questions.

There are two big problems here:

1. Study groups have existed forever and are a fundamental part of university, especially sciences. However study groups are prone to cheating.
   
2. Online access to resources have made learning more accessible, but they've also made "cheating" far easier. Universities are mildly scared about the accessibility part as they are financially vested in remaining the key holders. Of course, they're also publicly funded (especially in Canada), so they have to maintain some openness. But what Universities are really scared about is cheating. Credibility is ridiculously important for Universities and "cheating" undermines that credibility.
   

So cheating is the common factor here. From the academic mindset, the math is simple:
Study Groups = maybe cheating
Online = maybe cheating,
therefore Online Study Groups = definitely cheating

The logic is clearly flawed, and in this case it's pretty clear that no wrongs were committed. In fact, if people were using the group to cheat, it would have been trivially obvious to prove. If two students really wanted to cheat, posting up answers to a Facebook group is the worst possible way to do it.

Of course, the problem runs much deeper than that, this type of behaviour demonstrates a deep-seated fear in the academic halls. And it stems primarily from problem #2.

In all reality, the University should be providing and managing groups for this type of "study grouping". My wife graduated from the University of Manitoba last April and they had a "WebCT" system (now Blackboard). Systems like this increase transparency and provide quality resources for students, but even today it's tough to get full support from the older academics.

I personally love this concept of openness, but maybe the older academics are on to something. They have long been the private gatekeepers of the secret academic world. By increasing accessibility and allowing things like on-line study groups, they've increased their burden of work while reducing the value of their time.

The wired world is a connection tool for everybody. The web is a democratizing tool in an academic world that is far from democratic. This whole concept of suspending a student for managing a virtual study group is nothing but a demonstration of a deep-founded academic fear.

The irony here is that kicking out our hero will likely cause a backlash that will cause the university to lose credibility in the eyes of the public.

It's a bad place to be, of course YMMV.